Hearts
by DarkPoisonousLove
Summary: My entry for Golden Queen Week 2018 Day 3 - Role Reversal. "It meant she knew exactly how to hurt him. But driving the knife in his heart was like driving it into her own." Pawnbroker Regina and Mayor Gold.


**A/N: I saw the propmpt and immediately knew I had to write something about it. So here it is. I hope you'll like it. Reviews are greatly appreciated.**

It was Regina's favorite time of the month – the moment when she set out to collect the debts the townspeople owed her. It gave her an excuse to leave the dusty, clustered pawnshop, stretch her legs and deliver some scathing remarks. She'd already studied every little thing that the shop held–she had to admit it was impressively stocked–but it could only hold her interest for so long. Especially when there was no magic without which most of the contents of the shop were but simple trinkets.

There was one thing that she was interested in even though it too drew its power from magic but, coincidentally, it was the one thing that she couldn't find. Everything else–from her own tears to the ridiculous unicorn mobile–was there. She owned a piece from everyone's life except for his. Well, she just had to keep looking. It was she who had all the time in the world now.

She strode down Main Street, enjoying the cool air. It was October and another anniversary from the casting of the Curse was approaching. When she'd first woken up in the new land, she hadn't been very pleased with her position in the Storybrooke society, but it had grown on her. Those monthly tours of the town gave her a chance to savor the results of the Curse and she had to say it was working flawlessly.

The people who passed by her on the sidewalk all had their heads bowed as if paying tribute to her just as they should. She owned their homes and held their lives in her hands. She was more than a queen now, much like a goddess. And she loved to make a statement. That's why she always started her tour of the town from Granny's, early in the morning when everyone stopped by to get a coffee or breakfast.

As she walked into the diner, all conversation ceased, giving way to awkward, chilly silence. Granny had her back towards the entrance but quickly turned around when she sensed the change in the atmosphere.

"Madam Mills," she greeted, sounding rather shocked even though that was happening every month. "Follow me, please." She headed towards the other end of the diner from where they could go to the reception of the Bed & Breakfast.

Regina walked after her, looking down on everyone she passed on the way, and they all crouched under her gaze. She could almost feel their hearts squeezing in their chests.

As she came to stand at the reception and waited for Granny to get the money, she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye.

"Madam Mills."

She choked down the urge to jump at the sound of his voice, hating herself for being startled so easily even when she already knew he was there. She turned around.

"Mr Gold." She never called him 'mayor'. She could pull off everything else, just not that. He had stolen her position as mayor, tampering with the Curse in some way so that it would swap their places. She supposed it was a way of ensuring himself that he'd get a good life even though she couldn't break their deal even if she wanted to. She'd wanted to wring his neck when she'd woken up as the pawnshop owner but she'd been busy trying to figure out how much damage he'd done.

"May I speak to you?" he came out of the dark corner he'd been hiding in, waiting for her from ambush, his cane tapping against the wooden floor.

"I'm busy," she held his gaze.

"All the more reason to come with me. The faster we get this over with, the faster you can return to your business." He smiled at her as if to tell her she couldn't argue with his faultless logic and walked past her.

She spun around and saw him grab a key for one of the rooms, not paying any mind to Granny who was standing paralyzed at her spot and didn't even try to stop him. Regina followed him, glaring at the old woman on her way. She was certain Granny had known he was there but hadn't warned her.

Gold unlocked the room and opened the door, holding it for her.

She reluctantly walked in, trying to calm her heart as he shut the door behind him. It was unlocked and she could walk out when she wanted to. Even if she felt as if she was trapped there until he decided otherwise although she was the one who held all the power. She raised her chin defiantly and met his dark gaze, waiting for him to speak.

"I hear your debt-collecting methods have become rather forceful lately," Gold leaned casually on his cane.

She had to stop a chuckle. To anyone else he might have appeared concerned for the people she was terrorizing. But she knew what it was all about. "My conditions are very clear. It's not my problem that people have trouble holding up their ends." The townspeople grew more and more afraid of her every time someone lost their car or a handful of teeth–her old guards were still serving her quite well. And their fear gave her power over them. Power that weakened him. "Have there been official complaints about my policy?" she asked, sounding genuinely interested even though she knew he'd have already had her incarcerated if that were the case.

"No, of course not." Gold took a step towards her and she crossed her arms. "Although I doubt anyone would know even if there were. Seeing that you have your hands on the police force."

Regina raised her eyebrows in a mocking question, not quite able to hide her amusement. "Excuse me?"

"Your affair with the Sheriff is a lot of things but covert is not one of them," his lips forced the words out as if it was a tedious job to say them.

"I have my hands on Graham's heart, I admit." She'd been relieved when she'd realized she still had her vault, still had her hearts, still had her power even despite his intervention. "But since when is that a crime?" She faked a perfectly innocent look.

"It's not. But abusing his power for your benefit is," Gold said, taking another step towards her, handing himself to her on a silver platter.

"Then I'm sure Miss French repays you well every time you do it for her. Seeing how it happens again and again." He just couldn't help himself. Even though Lacey was nothing like Belle, having drank a glass of whiskey for every book her alter ego had read and each of them at the company of a different man, he was drawn to her like moth to a flame. And he was burning on a slow fire. "But don't worry," she continued, "your secret's safe with me." She gave him a sympathetic smile, causing him to purse his lips. "I understand that you can't help but be fond of her despite her wild nature." It was Lacey who was the beast now. The Curse had created a perfect antipode of Belle, meaning she was glad to warm his bed but not his heart. "I hear she bears a striking resemblance to your dead fiancee." She'd died under strange circumstances, having jumped from the clock tower where they used to meet in secret right after he'd proposed. His father had married him off to a wealthy widow whose son he'd rescued from certain death not even a month after the death of his beloved.

"I'm sure having your husband run off with an older woman because he couldn't stand being married to you is not easy either," he said, not even half as smug as he was supposed to be. Evoking even the fake memories of Leopold was painful for her but it hurt him more to taunt her with his own past. Even if it was wiped from his head, it was still in his heart.

"Not as hard as living with your wife when you knew her heart would always belong to her dead husband must have been for you." After the Curse had hit them, she'd woken up with a head full of memories that weren't hers. The same faces from her old life had been put in new roles – close to what they'd been back then but not close enough. Because her fake life wasn't hers. She'd made Sidney run a background check on Gold and her theory had been confirmed. He was living her old life in this new land. Only it was adapted to fit the world they now lived in. Whatever he had done to the Curse had resulted in their pasts being entangled in a messy knot, and sometimes she couldn't tell where her life ended and his began. It meant she knew exactly how to hurt him. But driving the knife in his heart was like driving it into her own.

Gold chuckled as if at his own decision to take her bait. Not that he had a choice. He was forced to play her game. They all were. "You have a lot of power, Regina," he spoke as if having read the thoughts in her mind. The way he said her name made her flesh break into goosebumps. "But this is my town."

"Is it?" She smirked, waiting for him to make the next move. That was if he could of course. She was confident she'd won that round.

She looked down when his cane tapped right between her feet, his body just a few inches away from hers. She raised her head, ready to answer to his challenge, but his fingers closed around her elbow and he pulled her to him, kissing her. It threw her completely off-balance and her hands grasped at the lapels of his coat to steady her, her lips parting to let out a confused sound.

He used the opportunity, his tongue barging in her mouth but she blocked its way with hers. The smell of coffee on his breath woke her resistance and her tongue slid against his as she was trying to keep him from exploring her mouth as thoroughly as he'd explored her mind. But he knew how to push her even though he wasn't aware that he knew her heart to its dark core.

She was the one to pull away, her chest heaving as if she'd been running from a predator whereas his breathing was perfectly normal. Her treacherous heart was beating so fast she was sure he could hear it, as close as he was. She was still grasping at his lapels even though the touch at her elbow was gone.

She let go and stepped back, licking her upper lip. She wanted to say something, to put him in his place, but she was still out of breath and she wasn't sure how long she'd need to recover. Her lungs seemed to have stopped working and so did her brain. For she was out of her mind to flee the room like that, nearly tripping on his cane that was still in her way. She was out of her mind to flee the battle like that, letting him win even though she'd had the last word. She was out of her mind to flee the Bed & Breakfast like that, through the back door, forgetting to take the money Granny owed her even when the woman called after her.

She wished she could reverse time and make sure she never laid eyes on his name, never stored it in her mind, never pronounced it. Even incorrectly. Because he'd seemed unperturbed but she'd lost her heart to him.


End file.
